Avoiding sugar

Does anyone do it temporarily or permanently?  I’m on a general all round health kick at the moment. Losing weight gradually, and thus (hopefully) sustainably), exercising more and improving my diet.

As part of that I am trying very hard to avoid anything with refined sugar in it (I’m still eating natural sugars i.e. fruit).  I’m also cutting right back on refined carbs (bread, pasta and anything with flour in it). I’m surprised by how little of a hardship it is – I only had minor cravings for 3 or 4 days. I’m also surprised by how much better I feel for it.  I have more energy, sleep better and I don’t get snack attacks any more.  I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself as I’m not dieting as such, just eating more savoury stuff, more fat, protein, fruit and veg.  I’m not uber strict with it, I still eat a few potatoes and an occasional sandwich if I’m travelling and need food on the go. No sweets, biscuits, cakes though. Also no ready meals, cereals, sauces or other processed food in which sugar is an ingredient.

I don’t know if its a placebo thing, but it’s definitely made me feel better all round, in a way other dietary changes haven’t.  Christmas is going to be a challenge, but I am going to try and stick with it as long as possible. Anyone else?

I do try and avoid it as much as I can.

30+ years of Type 1 Diabetes does provide the incentive though.

;-)

I’m 26 months into Diabetes from Long COVID so I’m in a similar place. After a while you actually can’t eat sugary stuff – it’s disgusting!

I do eat some carbs, I did trials with my blood sugar tests to find out what affected me the most so that’s what I eat the least of.

I try to do the 30 plants/week thing, too. This helps keep the variety up even if you’re not convinced of the science. (I am).

Type 1 Diabetes does provide the incentive though.

I can imagine! My dad has type 2, and I think I was slowly heading in that direction.  My cholesterol which had been fine for years, has been creeping up recently to the point where my GP has mentioned (but not pushed) statins. I’m not against statins if I need them, but I’d like to see if I can bring my weight and cholesterol down through lifestyle changes first.  I’m not massively overweight, 176cm and 82kg (now down to 78kg) so a BMI which is towards the bottom of the overweight category.  I hope in a few weeks I’ll be back in the healthy weight band.

There will be plenty along to tell you that you are wrong.

I cut out a lot of starchy carbs a few years ago including beer.

The weight loss in 6 months, with no change of exercise was amazing. (To me).

Carbohydrate is inflammatory, my old injuries stopped aching and the snoring stopped in a few days.

I started drinking beer again when I cracked to a very cold Peroni on a summer evening!

Zero sugar here. Second best thing I’ve ever done after quitting alcohol.

I am trying. Although today I had a dark chocolate digestive at lunchtime. And then, because it’s my day off, I just happened to be going past the bakery and accidentally bought and ate a pain au chocolate.

But tomorrow is another day, right?

I am still trying to deal with my long COVID/CFS/Ankylosing Spondylitis. So I am limiting my life drastically, both in terms of activities and diet. I can manage booze and caffeine and stuff. But sugar seems to be the last straw!

I started drinking beer again when I cracked to a very cold Peroni on a summer evening!

I haven’t given up beer, but I’ve cut right back.  I’m fairly strict about not drinking in the week.  I’ll have one or two on Friday and Saturday nights. For me at the moment that feels more realistic and achievable than total abstinence. I wouldn’t rule it out in future though.

Yeh pretty much the same with sugar.

It’s right that you get accustomed to eating less… I have about a quarter of a spoon in my coffee still.. A full spoon now just tastes horribly sickley.

Same with a lot of sauses… Standard ketchup, BBQ sauce etc just tastes way too sweet to me now so I have to hunt out ‘better’ ones or make my own.

Yep, best thing I ever did. Used to have a real sweet tooth – always craving something sweet after a meal – it’s now completely gone. I don’t even enjoy eating that stuff any more, I would honestly rather eat a plate of slightly steamed sprouts dressed with butter and black pepper. It’s been over 10 years now, don’t think I’ve eaten a single biscuit, sweet or bar of chocolate in that time. Occasionally I will have dessert at a decent restaurant, and I do eat some boardline things like malt loaf or fruit scones from time to time, plus I still eat Christmas pudding at Christmas, but all the everyday junk is gone. My advice would be to keep at it, once you’re out of the habit it just ceases to be of interest. White sugar does nothing for you at all, it should be on a par with smoking in the grand scheme of thing – just a pointless, expensive, self-destructive habit.

now just tastes horribly sickley.

The wife still takes sugar, 1 teaspoon full, picked up the wrong brew and it tasted absolutely vile.

As part of that I am trying very hard to avoid anything with refined sugar in it (I’m still eating natural sugars i.e. fruit).  I’m also cutting right back on refined carbs (bread, pasta and anything with flour in it). I’m surprised by how little of a hardship it is

Same here.
I did it to a fairly extreme level about 6 years ago (no fruit even) and lost a load of weight.  I then put it back on gradually (obvs) and had a milder go from March to June and lost about 10kg – just started again after a summer away where it’s quite difficult to avoid carbs and other crap.

Basically I have eggs for breakfast (maybe with bacon/sausage), salad for lunch and for tea I just substitute pasta/rice/bread for green beans!

I quite enjoy it and it def works for me but you need a good stock of salad and veg in to make it work.

(I still eat cheese…. obviously!)

@Jamz, that’s really encouraging. Thank you.

Edit, and everyone else. The short term benefits are considerable, so knowing that keeping it up long term is doable is a real boost. Thanks all.

“White sugar does nothing for you at all”

Same with all sugars no matter what colour they are.

try to keep sugar down to a minimum, although the biggest hits are probably muesli/granola that I like to have for breakfast. M&S do a nice one which is only 6% sugar but I can’t get it all the time. Most supermarket ones are at least 15% with some at a staggering 30% sugar.

I only eat energy bars either before or during a bike ride, and snack on a few bits of fruit mid afternoon. I never eat sweets and turn down cake etc if I’m offered it anywhere which often disgruntles people. ??

My lunches are a mix of leftovers from which I’ve cooked too much of the night before. So something like…

chicken, rice or pasta or both, with a good mix of either beans or lentils and quinoa, then I’ll add tomatoes, olives, green veg and either spinach leaves or rocket leaves. Sprinkle with herbs and add a dash of salad dressing or pesto.

I am one of those that developed Type 2 diabetes with long COVID also as above (and have a T1 daughter)

I think there definitely is a difference between  simple processed carbs like pure sugar and other heavily refined sugars and good quality low GI carbs.

Many T2 FB pages and insta videos are obsessed with “Low carb” or “keto”, but carbs are not the cause of these metabolic diseases, the bodies intolerance of them is a symptom. What is also very clear is that insulin-resistance which is what T2 diabetes is, is a movable line, and with weight loss and a clean diet, many can place it back into remission

There is more and more evidence that the main causes are carrying too much weight, a diet high in processed simple sugars, saturated fat and also ultra-processed foods in general.

The best things for everyone, diabetic or not, is a diet high in veg, legumes, nuts, lean meats and other sources of good quality proteins and fibre.

If your plate has a good amount of vegetables, protein, good fats and fibre, then it will tolerate better quality carbs (such as legumes, steel cut oats etc) as they will slow the absorption of the carbs.

The media seems to have stating “fats are bad”, “carbs are the enemy” etc. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they are not the enemy in general, poor quality, over processed versions of them are what is bad, coupled with inactivity.

Even sugar is not the enemy, it just needs to eaten at a time when your body can utilise it quickly, there are not many unhealthy marathon runners and they will be taking on sugar in large quantities.

so knowing that keeping it up long term is doable is a real boost.

Yeh you won’t even need to ‘keep it up’ after you’re accustomed to a generally lower sugar diet… Stuff with too much sugar in it will just end up tasting too sickly to you, so. You’ll end up actively avoiding foods with too much sugar.

My topic here might be of interest to those on this one

FODMAP – Source of truth?

oh and too add to my post, keep milk down to a minimum, as little as possible on any cereal and black coffee. There’s loads of people guzzling lattes and flat whites etc, All that lactose, it’s sugar.

h and too add to my post, keep milk down to a minimum, as little as possible on any cereal and black coffee. There’s loads of people guzzling lattes and flat whites etc, All that lactose, it’s sugar.

Lactose is actually a low GI sugar and effects blood glucose levels a lot less than other sugars, it is also a pre-biotic.

There is a lot of mis-information about sugars and carbs, plus lots of interesting things such as if you could a potato (or things like pasta) and then allow them to cool, before reheating you actually lower the GI considerably as you form more resistant starch

definately one of the hardest things to do. I gave it up for about 6 months 5 years ago. I really want to do it again but really struggling with my sweet tooth.

I gave up alcohol last october which wasn’t as hard as i thought. I had a nagging feeling for some months that i just wasn’t enjoying it anymore. Coupled with the fact i’m a coeliac and it was hard to get good gluten free beer where i am in wales

I\ve always been an all or nothing sort of person. I don’t do moderation very well.

definately one of the hardest things to do. I gave it up for about 6 months 5 years ago. I really want to do it again but really struggling with my sweet tooth.

I used to have a huge sweet tooth, it’s not really a question of giving up sugar totally, just moderating it and the rest will follow… Like years ago I could quite happily demolish a 4 pack of creme and jam donut slices from tescos… the thought of that now just makes my stomach turn… I’d much rather have cheese and crackers for desert than something sweet.

Cheese and crackers will give you a big dose of saturated fat. Health-wise a piece of fruit for dessert would be healthier.

And cow’s milk makes a great recovery drink. That applies to fully skimmed milk too.

Cheese and crackers will give you a big dose of saturated fat.

You can keep your cake, but you’ll never take my cheese!

Standard cake mix ratio is 33% sugar, 33% flour (carbs) and 33% fat (eggs/butter).

it is not the same as cheese!

Nor is fresh fruit the same as cake.

I am doing something similar. No bread, pasta rice or potatoes generally speaking, where practical. No cake, chocolate, sweets, but some dairy, fruit, veg, nuts, etc. No takeaways, nothing ultraprocessed.

I started doing it for the weightloss about 3 or 4 weeks ago and I am thinner than I was but I’m fairly sure if I had a couple of pizzas it would all go back on immediately. However I have also noticed that my blood pressure which is usually borderline high has dropped down into the normal range, even when I test it after stressful work stuff. I also have rheumatoid arthritis and the level of pain I am in with my joints is noticeably reduced although with some peaks and troughs.

Will be cutting out alcohol on top of this in a couple of weeks so looking forward to seeing what additional benefit that brings

There seems to be a growing consensus that the amount of sugar we consume in a western diet is poisonous to our bodies. And that’s not just all the extra treats but the amount of carbs we eat before getting to the sweet stuff. I’m low carb and have been for a while. One thing it’s done is that it’s forced me to eat a lot more veg in place of all the high carb carb, starchy foods that made up most of my diet previously. My diet is far more diverse and full of nutrient dense rather than calorie dense food now. It’s almost impossible to get fat, and your taste definitely changes, appreciating simple foods more and craving crap less. Bread was always one of my favourites. It’s bland now.

Yes, I’ve stopped sugar, carbs and alcohol

Thank goodness for Stevia and related products. Panda flour is also amazing stuff as well.

Stopping the carbs becomes a little bit of a struggle on 6-hour plus cycle rides, but it is possible. You just need to get your body used to converting fat and protein – and then consume large amounts of fat and protein

Best thing I ever did and to be honest I wish I’d done it years ago

I was recommended a book Glucose Revolution by Jesse Inchauspe. It’s quite an eye opener about the western diet and the hidden sugars we consume. It gives tips on how to change your diet and eat healthier as well as examples of people who have various health issues and have managed to follow her guidance.

She also has an Instagram page if you’re into the social media stuff.

Nope.

Carbs, sugars and fats are good for you though, they are essential nutrients…

The problem is when there’s too much of them.

Panda flour is also amazing stuff as well.

You heartless bastard!

Would love to reduce sugar intake but Bob keeps getting them big raspberry and white chocolate cookies at work. I both love and hate Bob.

The way to cook all your veg is to boil them with a bit of salt. Yummy!

The way to cook all your veg is stir fry or steam it al-dente… if you boil the crap out out of it, you basically ruin it.

The way to cook all your veg is stir fry or steam it al-dente… if you boil the crap out out of it, you basically ruin it.

Steaming is alright but the clean up is a bit more. i.e. taking the steaming rack off the work and clean both.

Quick boiling just need to clean the pot/pan.

Carbohydrate is inflammatory, my old injuries stopped aching

I quite refined sugar a few years ago for a year or so primarily because my cravings were getting out of control.

The only things i noticed were that my ankles and knees stopped aching. Made no difference to my weight. Neither did the stupid fasting diet.

Why would you need to clean a steamer. It’s literally been steam cleaned already.

We can’t have biscuits in the house and I only bake at the weekend. Trying to cut down on sugar has been hard as I have a sweet tooth and cannot give up chocolate.  We gave up fruit juices and squash drinks.

Fruit and veg and honey have been used as some substitutions.

What do people use as snacks when out on a ride or walk? I’m now finding the bars eg Kellogs nutigrain or Nature valley very sweet.

The trouble is you cannot state “CARBS = bad” in the same way you can’t say “fat = bad” which was the previous scare.

Your body needs carbs, and not all carbs can be considered bad, you cannot write off a whole food group.

Steel cut oats are very high in fibre, a great source of beta-glucans, a great source of phenols, they have been found to actively lower blood glucose levels….

But they are more than 2/3rds carbohydrate

Lentils and other legumes, all high in carbohydrate

a cup full of blueberries is 18g of carbs, a sweet potato may be 40g + of carbs, almonds are 20% carbs

I can go on, you will struggle to meet your dietary fibre intake without taking on carbs.

As above i am type 2 diabetic, never been medicated, placed it back into remission through diet and exercise within 2 months of diagnosis and been in remission now for 3 years.

Every Type 2 diabetic page is full of people spouting “low carb” this and “keto” that (in between moaning why doctors won’t place them on the new GLP-1 injections), the issue is not carbohydrates, the issue is over processed and refined carbs, the issue is eating something very carb dense, but that does not have good quality fibre, fats and protein to accompany it.

The stomach is like a sieve, poor quality carbs in is like pouring water into it, it will go straight through and cause a blood glucose “spike”, line that sieve with fats, protein and fibre, and the absorption of any carbs into the bloodstream will be greatly slowed and allow time for the insulin you produce to actually have time to work.

Insulin has a lag time before it can work, it is why even the healthiest person can eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut and get that sugar rush, then as the insulin can finally start working, you then get that crash (slightly oversimplified)

I’ve been trying to cut out as much processed stuff (and by extension sugar) for a while due to high cholesterol, NAFLD and a BMI of 28.

5kg weight loss and less aches so far.

It’s a bit of a pain because I soon realised I have to take food *everywhere*, because 99% of what is available buy out and about, even at work, is heavily processed.

For snacks I take nuts/raisins, carrots, celery, grapes and other fresh fruit/veg.